Legal claims defining the scope of protection. Each claim is shown in both the original legal language and a plain English translation.
1. A patient monitoring system configured for providing communications between medical devices used by patients and a remote monitoring device via an internet-accessible wireless communications network, said system comprising: a medical device to be used by a patient; a patient identification device capable of receiving an input indicative of patient identification information of the patient and of transmitting the patient identification information; and at least one relay module comprising: a first receiver capable of wirelessly receiving data over a wireless relay network; a second receiver capable of wirelessly receiving data over the internet-accessible wireless communications network a first transmitter capable of wirelessly transmitting the received data to a wireless relay module over the wireless relay network; a second transmitter capable of wirelessly transmitting the received data over an internet-accessible wireless communications network to the remote monitoring device; and a controller coupled to the first and second transmitters, wherein: one or more of the patient identification device and the medical device are capable of transmitting patient identification data and medical device identification data to the at least one relay module over the wireless relay network, said controller of said at least one relay module is configured to select one of said first transmitter or said second transmitter for transmitting the identification information to the remote monitoring device, said at least one relay module being further configured to receive an acknowledgement status transmitted by the remote monitoring device at one of said first and second receivers, and to transmit the acknowledgement status by said first transmitter to the medical device over the wireless relay network, and the medical device being further configured to receive the acknowledgement status and transmit medical device data corresponding to an output of at least one sensor of the medical device to the at least one relay module via the wireless relay network when the received acknowledgement status represents a particular status.
The patient monitoring system remotely tracks medical device usage. A medical device used by a patient interacts with a patient identification device to gather patient information. A relay module with two receivers and two transmitters acts as a bridge. The first receiver/transmitter pair uses a short-range wireless relay network (e.g., Bluetooth, Zigbee) to communicate with the medical and patient ID devices. The second receiver/transmitter uses an internet-accessible wireless network (e.g., cellular) to connect to a remote monitoring device. Patient/device ID data is sent to the remote monitor, which sends back an authorization status. Only if authorized, the medical device sends sensor data through the relay module to the remote monitor. The relay module's controller selects which transmitter to use based on the communication path.
2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the acknowledgment status is received in a first form at one of said first or second receivers of the at least one relay module, and is transmitted in a second form by said first transmitter of the at least one relay module to the medical device.
The patient monitoring system from the previous description includes a relay module that receives an authorization status from the remote monitoring device using either its short-range or internet-accessible receiver. However, the format of this acknowledgment status changes when the relay module re-transmits the status back to the medical device using its short-range transmitter. This allows for adaptation of the data to different communication protocols between the remote monitoring device and the medical device.
3. The system of claim 2 , wherein said controller is capable of determining a status of said internet-accessible wireless communications network and of selecting one of said first or second transmitter for transmitting said received data based on said status.
The patient monitoring system from the authorization status description includes a relay module which monitors the status of the internet-accessible wireless network. Based on this status, the relay module's controller dynamically chooses between its short-range or internet-accessible transmitter for sending received data. This ensures data transmission even if one of the networks is experiencing issues, improving reliability by adapting to network conditions.
4. The system of claim 2 , wherein said controller is configured to transmit said received information via the internet-accessible wireless communications network by said second transmitter if said status satisfies a particular criteria; and is configured to transmit said received information by said first transmitter in communication with said wireless relay network if said status fails to satisfy said particular criteria.
The patient monitoring system from the authorization status description includes a relay module which transmits received information using its internet-accessible transmitter if the network status meets specific criteria (e.g., strong signal strength, low latency). If the network status doesn't meet these criteria, the relay module instead uses its short-range transmitter in communication with the wireless relay network. This provides a fallback mechanism, favoring the faster network when available but switching to the more reliable short-range network when needed.
5. The system of claim 2 , wherein said at least one relay module further comprises: a memory electrically connected to said controller, said memory capable of buffering operating instructions from said remote monitoring device at one of said first and second receivers and said controller capable of controlling at least one of the order and or the priority for transmission of said buffered operating instructions by said first transmitter to the medical device, wherein said at least one relay module is further capable of outputting warnings or error messages concerning a current availability of one or more of the wireless relay network and the internet-accessible wireless communications network.
The patient monitoring system from the authorization status description includes the relay module with a memory. This memory stores operating instructions received from the remote monitoring device. The relay module's controller prioritizes and orders these instructions for transmission to the medical device via the short-range transmitter. The relay module also generates warnings or error messages indicating the availability status of both the wireless relay network and the internet-accessible network, providing diagnostic feedback.
6. The system of claim 1 , wherein said second transmitter is further capable of transmitting operating instructions to said at least one medical device.
In the patient monitoring system, the second transmitter in the relay module, responsible for internet-accessible wireless communications, can also transmit operating instructions to the medical device. This allows the remote monitoring device to remotely configure or update the medical device's behavior via the relay module.
7. The system of claim 1 , wherein said wireless relay network is a ZIGBEE network.
The patient monitoring system utilizes a Zigbee network for the short-range wireless communication between the medical device, the patient identification device, and the relay module. This Zigbee network provides low-power, reliable communication within a limited range.
8. The system of claim 1 , wherein said internet-accessible wireless communications network is a mobile communications network.
The patient monitoring system relies on a mobile communications network (e.g., cellular network) for the internet-accessible wireless communication between the relay module and the remote monitoring device. This provides wide-area coverage for transmitting patient data.
9. The system of claim 8 , wherein said mobile communications network is a CDMA or GSM-based network.
The mobile communications network used by the patient monitoring system can be either a CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) or a GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) based network. These are common cellular technologies facilitating data transfer.
10. The system of claim 1 , wherein one or more of the patient identification device and the medical device comprises: a third transmitter capable of wirelessly transmitting said medical device data over said wireless relay network.
The patient monitoring system incorporates a third transmitter, located on either the patient identification device or the medical device. This transmitter wirelessly transmits medical device data over the short-range wireless relay network (e.g. Zigbee, Bluetooth).
11. The system of claim 1 , wherein one or more of the patient identification device and the medical device comprises: a third receiver capable of wirelessly receiving instructions over said wireless relay network for execution by said medical device.
The patient monitoring system has a third receiver on either the patient identification device or the medical device which can wirelessly receive instructions via the short-range network for execution by the medical device.
12. The system of claim 1 , wherein said particular status provides a real-time authorization of use of the medical device by the patient based upon a pre-authorization record for the patient.
In the patient monitoring system, the "particular status" which triggers data transmission after authorization represents real-time permission for the patient to use the medical device. This authorization is based on a pre-existing authorization record stored for the patient.
13. The system of claim 1 , wherein: one or more of the patient identification device, the medical device or the at least one relay module is capable of encrypting the patient identification information prior to transmitting the patient identification information to the remote monitoring device.
In the patient monitoring system, the patient identification information is encrypted by at least one of these components before it is sent to the remote monitoring device: patient identification device, medical device, or the relay module.
14. The system of claim 1 , wherein: one or more of the medical device or the at least one relay module are capable of encrypting the medical device identification information prior to transmitting the medical device identification information to the remote monitoring device.
In the patient monitoring system, the medical device identification information is encrypted by either the medical device, or the relay module before being transmitted to the remote monitoring device.
15. The system of claim 1 , wherein the patient identification device is coupled to the medical device, and the medical device is capable of receiving the patient identification information from the patient identification device and transmitting the patient identification information to the at least one relay module.
In the patient monitoring system, the patient identification device is directly connected to the medical device. The medical device receives patient identification information from the patient ID device and then transmits this information to the relay module.
16. The system of claim 1 , wherein the wireless relay network is a BLUETOOTH network.
The patient monitoring system uses a Bluetooth network for the short-range wireless communication between the medical device, the patient identification device, and the relay module.
17. The system of claim 15 , wherein the medical device is capable of associating the patient identification information with the medical device information.
In the patient monitoring system with the patient identification device attached to the medical device, the medical device can associate the patient's ID with the medical device's specific information. This association ensures that the data is linked to the correct patient and device.
18. The system of claim 1 , wherein said patient identification device further comprises a patient identification information reader for receiving the input indicative of patient identification information.
The patient identification device includes a reader to get the patient's identification information. This "patient identification information reader" takes the input (e.g., scan, biometric data) that represents the patient's ID.
19. The system of claim 18 , wherein the patient identification information reader is coupled to the medical device.
The patient identification device includes a reader, and this reader is connected to the medical device. This allows the medical device to easily receive the patient's ID from the reader.
20. The system of claim 18 , wherein the patient identification information reader comprises a barcode reader.
The patient identification device includes a barcode reader, allowing the system to capture patient identification data from a barcode.
21. The system of claim 18 , wherein the patient identification information reader comprises a radio frequency identification tag reader.
The patient identification device includes a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag reader. This allows the system to read patient information from an RFID tag.
22. The system of claim 18 , wherein the patient identification information reader comprises a device selected from the group consisting of fingerprint readers, retinal readers, vein-pattern scanners and cameras.
The patient identification device utilizes biometric scanning devices such as fingerprint readers, retinal readers, vein-pattern scanners, or cameras.
23. The system of claim 18 , wherein the patient identification information reader comprises a device selected from the group consisting of smartphones, tablet computers, PDA's and PCs.
The patient identification device is a smartphone, tablet, PDA, or PC. This device can be used as an information reader for patient identification.
24. The system of claim 5 , wherein said memory of the at least one relay module is further capable of storing one or more of the received patient identification information or the received medical device identification information.
The memory inside the relay module stores the received patient identification information, medical device identification information, or both.
25. The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one relay module is further capable of transmitting the patient identification information and the medical device identification information in a single information block.
The patient monitoring system's relay module sends both the patient's ID and the medical device's ID together in a single block of information.
26. The system of claim 15 , wherein the medical device further comprises a memory and is capable of storing the patient identification information received from the patient identification device in the memory of the medical device.
In the patient monitoring system, where the patient ID device is connected to the medical device, the medical device has its own memory to store the patient ID it receives.
27. The system of claim 15 , wherein the patient identification device is an integral component of or fixedly attached to the medical device.
In the patient monitoring system, the patient identification device is either permanently attached to the medical device or is built directly into it.
28. The system of claim 16 , wherein the medical device is capable of transmitting the patient identification information and the medical device identification information in a single information block.
In the patient monitoring system using Bluetooth, the medical device transmits both the patient's ID and the medical device's ID together in a single data packet.
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December 2, 2014
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